As the thread title indicates there is several things going on. I picked up this 69 SS Camaro last week and I have been able to verify its authenticity. The last owner just had the top end rebuilt. During the process the Cam and Carb were both changed out. All he could tell me about the Cam was that it was a Reed Cam and the carb is a 600 CFM 4bl Carb from summit with elec choke.

Being that I do not know any of the specs on the Cam where would be a good place to start setting the timing?

I have the specs on the Carb and the stock settings after a call to summit so once I get the timing worked out I can tune the carb.

The last thing is while checking vacuum I was only able to get about 10" at an idle speed of about 800rpm. I could not find what the vacuum specs are but I feel like it should be more than that, right?

Any assistance in sorting out these issues would be very much appreciated. Thanks everyone!

 

There is no cook book formula for setting up an engine, especially if you have a mixture of parts. It is importatnt to use a timing light and an accurate TDC mark and degree tape around the front damper. Depending on the heads used the total timing that the engine needs differs. Fast burn heads similar to Vortec ones are happy around 30 deg. total, old type heads need much more, up around 38 deg. Also compression and cam duration also affect the timing that the engine likes. Long duration cams allow compression to blow off at low rpm allowing more initial timing, but call for less total timing as the cam "comes on" at higher RPM. Without a way of actually testing (dyno or drag strip) you are going have a tough time to get things just right. In a pinch you could adjust the initial timing and idle mixture to get maximum vacuum at idle, and adjust the spark curve so that the engine barely pings under full load at high RPM. A carb running rich will allow the engine to tolerate more timing, but will not improve power, a lean running carb will allow the engine to tolerate less timing and cause the engine to run hot and ping.